Draft leagues vs. Auction leagues

When deciding to start or join a fantasy baseball league you must choose which draft format you want. Is one better than the other? It truly comes down to your individual desire and commitment as well as that of the other owners who will be a part of your league.

A typical draft league has a format where a random draft order is created for all the owners in the league. Each owner goes one at a time picking the player they desire from the available pool of players in a snake format (pick 1-10 then 10-1) until all rounds are completed.

In an auction league, owners start with a designated amount of available money to spend on a specific number of positions ($300 for 23 players). A random draft order is generated just like a draft league and each owner, one at a time, announces a player that they want to put up for auction with a price (Ex. Pujols for $20). At this time any owner can make a higher bid for the opportunity to win the player. Bidding continues until the auctioneer says going, going, gone. The owner with the last bid now receives that player and the amount that was spent is subtracted from the $300. Owners continue to announce players and bidding takes place until all teams have filled their roster. Teams cannot exceed their $300 allowable salary.

One of the main differences of these two types of drafts is the ability of an owner to get any player regardless of draft order. In an auction league every owner has a chance to get any player. When the player comes out it is up to each individual owner whether they will participate in the bidding process for that player. In a draft league, if you are at the bottom of the random draft order then you have no chance at getting certain players. In most drafts certain players will almost always be taken in the early picks. Players like Jose Reyes, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, etc have very little chance of falling to the person with the 10th pick.

In addition to being able to buy any available player, the auction league also forces an owner to budget his/her designated amount of money. Can you go and buy the 4 top superstars for big money? Yes you can, but you must remember that you also have 19 other players that need to be bought as well. Not only must you be knowledgeable of baseball but you must also have a budget strategy.

The auction league is just an advanced version of fantasy baseball. It combines the economics of baseball with scouting knowledge. So when deciding, just take a look at the owners that will be participating and how committed they will be to the league.

Regardless of which one you choose, doing proper research and planning will give you the best chance for victory. The most important thing is to partake in a fantasy baseball league because it is a way to enjoy the game of baseball at a whole new level.